PREVIEW : SAL Press Release ; Salgaocar Football Club after having garnered their 2nd victory in the Hero I-league’s against East Bengal now are set to welcome neighbours Mumbai FC at the Tilak Maidan, Vasco at 04:30 PM.

The Yellow brigade has had 2 back-to-back home matches but was able to get just 2 points from them. In the most recent fixture played on the 2nd of March, they had to share spoils with Aizwal FC after conceding an early penalty & an own goal despite grabbing the equaliser & taking a lead. The Greens come into this fixture after they defeated Kolkata giants East Bengal 3-1, Semboi Haokip scored a brilliant brace & Calvin Mbarga scored from the penalty spot.

When these teams met in the 1st leg at the Maharashtra outfit’s home Salgaocar FC were struggling to keep a leaky defence from conceding many goals. The game ended as the Mumbaikars scored 2 goals in 10 minutes from Taisuke Matsugae & Sushil Singh, while Jackichand Singh scored the sole goal for the visitors. The Greens however have come a long way since, now with Santosh Kashyap holding the reigns & Eder M. Fernandes in the defence; it seems the Goan outfit has an entirely different approach to their games.

Speaking to the press before the game the Greens gaffer when asked for his views on the same, said “They are a fighting team, we have lost in our away games, but now we have our home games, that’s an advantage & we will make the most of it”. He also added “It’s a very positive attitude & high morale the players have right now, we needed this win especially after suffering 2 loses, this couldn’t have come at a better time, and we will take it one game at a time & learn from our mistakes”.

The coach will definitely be having some trouble upfront as the team & league’s current top scorer Darryl Duffy will not be available for this clash, but he doesn’t seem too worried as he went on to say “Duffy has made a great contribution, but its good now that Haokip has started scoring, I want everyone who gets a chance to grab it & score. I am confident in them.” Also not available for the fixture is Rocus Lamare who has been out for quite some time.

The head coach for Mumbai FC is not all too happy with his side falling short on concentration & focus. This is shown in the conceding of dangerously close free-kicks & number of cards his side has received. “We have worked very hard this season, anything can change because of a lack of concentration from a player” he said when talking about how the team’s recent lack of focus has been a worry for him.

He also added “Every time we play here, we concede a card, very soft mistakes attract harsh decisions, I don’t blame anyone, when playing an away match you have to be alert, I have told them before, I will tell them today & the same will follow for tomorrow”. But when speaking about his approach for the game tomorrow the Visiting coach had his mind-set on an all-out attack style of play, “We will attack right from the start, even if there is a small gap, we will not be defensive, they are desperate so attacking from the beginning is the best option”.

He words of caution were these “Tomorrow’s game I feel is about 1 mistake, 1 mistake made by anyone will prove costly”. And speaking finally on the importance of the upcoming game here were his thoughts “Tommorow’s fixture is crucial to both the teams, you have to do your job & control everything from the beginning to the end, this is one of the most important matches for us almost a do or die”. A win in this game will see the Goan outfit move to level with the visiting side in terms of points.